Emil Rudolf Widegren was born on April 17, 1872 in Norberg, Västmanland, Sweden, the third son of Erik Emanuel and Johanna (Thunberg) Widegren. Rudolf, as he was known, grew up in the parish of his birth. His father died of pulmonary tuberculosis in 1880 when Rudolf was 7 years old. His younger brother Oskar died the same year. In the early 1880s, they lived at Davidsbo im Norberg. On Christmas 1883, when he was 11 years old, his mother died, leaving him and his older brothers orphaned. It is unclear what happened to him for the rest of his young life, but it is likely he was raised by another family who took him in as the lowest bidder. He may have been split from his brothers. When his brother Axel died in 1888, it left him and his brother Carl the last members of their family. Rudolf worked as a farmhand around 1890 in Norberg.
Rudolf married Augusta Karolina Lundgren on December 23, 1898. Augusta was born in nearby Västerfärnebo on June 7, 1874, the eldest daughter of Anders and Carolina (Jansdotter) Lundgren. Augusta had previously worked as a maid. Rudolf worked as a farmhand, and later worked in the coal mines. He and Augusta had one child, a son Martin, who was born in 1903. Rudolf died of pulmonary tuberculosis on May 7, 1908 in Norberg at the age of 36, leaving a 34-year-old widow and a 4-year-old son. He was buried at the Norberg Eastern Churchyard in Norberg.
Children
Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
Martin Emil Widegren (1903-1990) | 17 June 1903 Norberg, Västmanland County, Västmanland, Sweden | 19 November 1990 Jamestown, Chautauqua County, New York, United States | Elmira Sarah Harrison (1906-1994) |
References
- Swedish Church records
- 1890 Swedish Census
- 1900 Swedish Census